


Thedas' Rebel Inquisitor

by kindanerdy



Series: Idrilla Sylvas [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn, angst with eventual happy ending, eventually, expect origins characters too, solas tells the truth, the whole crew - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22780288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kindanerdy/pseuds/kindanerdy
Summary: Idrilla Sylvas has spent her life quietly freeing slaves from Teventer. When her Keeper asks her to take a trip south, to observe the Conclave the Shemlen were putting on, she of course accepted. Better than almost anyone in her clan, she understood the importance of the outcome of this conclave. Unfortunately, she ended up a little too involved.
Relationships: Female Lavellan/Solas, Fen'Harel | Solas/Female Lavellan
Series: Idrilla Sylvas [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637695
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! Thanks for trying my story!   
> The first few chapters will have a lot of cannon dialogue, but there should be enough action and introspection that it isn't completely dull. After the introduction, as the characters get to know Idrilla a bit better the dialogue will change.   
> I have a few chapters already written, but fair warning, I am disabled and often ill, so I can't promise a schedule. I will do my best, and I promise that I'm not going to abandon it!

What pulled me out of unconsciousness was pain. Not “oh, that didn’t feel very nice” pain, like when you accidently step on a thorn, but the “Elger’nan, forgive me,” and “please just kill me now” type of pain. Gasping, I curled myself around my left hand and arm, where the world-ending pain seemed to be originating. It only lasted a few moments before it simmered down to “I just stuck my hand in the fire for a second” level of pain. Not comfortable, but I could deal with it.

As the pain retreated I took in my surroundings. I was laying on a shemlen cot, but without any blankets or furs, and I was cold. There were running footsteps, and I heard a heavy door slam. Uncurling a bit I looked around, seeing three stone walls and bars, which explained the smells of vomit and stale piss. The one guard outside my cell was watching me nervously, his hand on his sword.

I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten here, and I idly wondered if there was a specific reason I was locked up, or it the shems had just needed an elven scapegoat for something. I was eyeing the guard warily when a door slammed again and I heard the sound of marching footsteps.

I groaned, sitting up, causing the guard to tighten his grip on his weapon, and took stock. Besides my hand and a mild headache, I wasn’t in pain. As the marching footsteps drew closer I covertly tested my muscles, and everything seemed to be working, which was great if I had to make a run for it.

Five more guards stomped into view, before guard one took his hand off his weapon and pulled out a key. While the other guards pulled out their swords, he unlocked my cell and said, “No funny business, rabbit, or we’ll gut ya where you stand.”

I’ve always been inclined to try words first, so I saw no reason to disobey. He roughly grabbed me, dragged me to the looks-like-a-torture-chamber space outside of the cell, forced me to my knees, and bound my hands with a heavy metal bar. He then drew his sword, too, and joined the other guards in their semi-circle of me. I have to day, being surrounded by swords, all pointing at my neck, wasn’t the most spectacular feeling.

My hand flared up into kill-me-now pain again, and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out. The pain felt like it started in my hand and was _burning_ up my arm and into my heart. After another moment it subsided. I looked at my hand curiously, wondering what in creation could cause such pain. There was a wound in my palm, stretching from the base of my middle finger to the center of my wrist. It was a sickening green color, and seemed to… spark? Spit? Touching my thumb to each of my fingers, I quickly established that my range of motion was fine. So caught up in my examination of the mark, I almost missed when two women walked it. Or, well, Lady Two walked. Lady One _slammed_ , gaining my attention. The first words out of One’s mouth quickly vanished all other thought from my mind.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now,” she demanded as she circled me. That sounded like a trap to me, ‘oh, lets see what the knife-ear will admit to,’ so I kept quiet. With the number of warriors in the rooms, and Lady One’s proximity, if they wanted me dead there wasn’t anything I could do about it, magic or no.

“Everyone who attended the conclave is dead. Except for you,” she continued. Okay, so I was wrong. They clearly had a specific crime in mind.

“Wait… _everyone_? But…no. No, no, you’re lying or something. All those people _can’t_ be dead, they _can’t_ be. There were _children_ there for Mythal’s sake!”

She ignored my outburst and grabbed my left hand, shoving it, and the mark on it, in my face. “Explain this!”

I bit my lip, then replied, “I can’t, really. It seems to be some sort of strong… magical… something…?”

Growling again at my non-answer, she said, “What do you mean‽”

“Well, I don’t know _exactly_ what it is, I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I have no idea how it ended up on my hand–”

“You’re lying!” She interrupted with a yell, moving to strike me across the face. Before the blow could land, however, lady two caught her arm. “We need her Cassandra,” she said. Lady one, Cassandra, huffed and pulled her arm away from Two, who turned back to me and asked, “Do you remember what happened? How this began?”

I tried hard to remember, any information I had could only help me at this point. “I remember… running. Things were chasing me. And then… a woman?” I opened the eyes that had reflexively shut as I tried to remember. “I’m sorry, everything’s all… jumbled.”

Cassandra frowned, but didn’t pursue it. “Go to the forward camp, Leliana,” she ordered. “I will take her to the rift.”

Lady Two, Leliana, nodded and left, while Cassandra came forward, removing the manacles and replacing them with rope before she drug me to my feet.

“What did happen?” I asked uncertainly as I gained my feet.

Hand on my arm as she led me out of the dungeon, she hesitantly replied, “It will be easier to show you.”

Sensing that no questions would be answered, at least not until I’d been shown whatever it was she wanted to show me, I bit back the thousand and one questions bubbling through my mind. She led me down a hallway, then up a flight of stairs, which ended in a Chantry. I was just _shocked_ that they imprisoned an elf in a Chantry. Not. Surprisingly, however, there were very few people about. Weren’t humans usually here at all hours? Especially the “sisters”?

When Cassandra led me outside, though, I got it. There was a _tear_ in the sky, a swirling mass of energy from the Beyond, sitting menacingly over the mountain.

Cassandra interrupted my horrified musing. “We call it the Breach. It is a massive tear into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It’s not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave.”

“Oh Creators,” I cursed, “I didn’t think explosions could _do_ that!”

“This one did,” came the pragmatic reply. “And unless we do something, the Breach may grow until it swallows the whole world.”

Before I could reply to _that_ cheery thought, the Breach overhead let out a deep rumble, spreading further across the sky, and my hand once again radiated agony. After another moment, the pain once again receded to a tolerable level, and I found myself on my knees in the snow.

Cassandra knelt next to me, and for the first time she spoke with something akin to compassion. “Every time the Breach expands your mark spreads, and it is killing you. It may be the Key to stopping this, but there isn’t much time.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, fortifying myself before standing. As Cassandra stood, too, I replied, “Whether or not closing the Breach can save _my_ life, it has to be done. Too many will perish if it is left the way it is.”

Cassandra nods to me, and simply says, “Thank you,” as she leads me toward the town gates.


	2. Out of Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idrilla and Cassandra head out of Haven and into the demon infested snow. Idrilla fights her first demon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally meant to post this yesterday, but life got hectic! Sorry!

Unfortunately, all the people that weren’t in the Chantry were out here, where they could monitor the Breach. This didn’t prevent them from noticing _me_ however, and soon there was a mob of shemlen, held back by Cassandra’s fierce glare, shouting insults and calling for my death.

“They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together Now they are dead.”

I refrain from rolling my eyes at her. I already knew all this; it would be incredibly stupid for me to go to the conclave without knowing who was in charge and what the goal was. Ignoring that I was a mage, I suppose she thought I was a servant of some sort; my vallaslin the same color as my face, so I could blend in better in the cities, and I was just wearing common clothing. But still, I’m fairly certain even the servants knew the basics of the conclave.

As we waited for the town’s guards to open the gates for us, Cassandra continued her explanation. “We lash out like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves, like she did. Until the Breach is sealed,” she qualified. She walked through the gate, then pulled a dagger from her belt. I’m not going to lie, that immediately made me nervous, but she actually cut my bonds with it, saying, “There will be a trial. I can promise no more.” She turned and began briskly walking down the path. “Come, it’s not far.”

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, half-suspiciously. They wouldn’t just take me somewhere else to kill me right? Not with so many openly calling for my execution.

“Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach,” she replied easily, much to my relief, before jogging toward a gate. Before it were scores of wounded and exhausted soldiers, and just as many corpses, some wrapped, some bloody and waiting for one of the Chantry people to see to them.

As we approached the gate Cassandra yelled, “Open the gate! We are headed into the valley!”

The two soldiers manning the gate threw me nasty looks, but did as Cassandra bid. On the other side of the gate were staggered barricades, with desperate looking soldiers behind them. 

As we passed the barricade three soldiers came running down the path toward us. I heard on of them cry out, “Maker, it’s the end of the world!” as we passed each other. I may not believe in the Maker, but I certainly believed it was the end of the world.

We hadn’t gotten much further when the Mark flared up again. Thankfully each pulse seemed to only last a few moments, but Elger’nan, it was bloody painful!

I came back to reality on the ground again, and Cassandra helped me back to my feet again. “The pulses are coming faster now.” I struggled to keep in a hysterical giggle. For some reason her remark reminded me a lot of Keeper Deshanna when we were helping one of our clanmates during labor. “The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face,” she added. Well that sobered me up quickly. There aren’t usually demons at a birth.

“How did I survive the blast?” I asked uncertainly.

“They said you stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious,” she told me as we continued on. “They say a woman was in the rift behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything further in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. I suppose you’ll see soon enough,” she added as we came up to a bridge. There were five soldiers at the other end of the bridge, and Cassandra strode determinedly toward them.

We were only half-way across when a flaming boulder fell out of the Breach and collapsed the bridge, sending us tumbling down onto the, thankfully, frozen river.

Ow. I mean, it’s better that the river had been frozen so solidly, don’t get me wrong here, being wet in this weather would be deadly, but still! That hurt!

Cassandra immediately jumped to her feet, but I was still trying to convince myself it was necessary when a glowing green ~something~ fell from the Breach onto the ice near Cassandra. It wasn’t a rock this time, thankfully, so the ice was still good, but it started to glow stronger and stronger and bubble. That was enough to convince me to get my butt up. I was on my feet when the Shade fully formed from the spot.

“Stay behind me!” Cassandra yelled at me before drawing her sword and shield and rushing to engage it.

And know what? I’d ‘a been perfectly happy doing that except another glowing bubbling spot had appeared between her and me, and she couldn’t see it.

“Cassandra!” I shouted. “Another behind you!” I didn’t get a response, so I looked response, so I looked desperately around for a weapon. There must’ve been a mage on the bridge, because along with a couple swords and a bow that I saw flung amongst the wreckage of the bridge, there was a single staff.

It was crude, obviously made by a Circle apprentice somewhere, but it’d work. I sent up a quick prayer of thanks to whomever was looking out for me in this small thing as I snatched up the staff and summoned my mana.

The shade had started coming for me when it full materialized, so I quickly shot off an ice spell to freeze it as I retreated a few steps. Once I felt I was back to a safe distance I prepared a stonefist, to hopefully shatter it but Cassandra beat me to the punch, sticking her sword through its center of mass.

Seeing she’d dispatched the other shade too, I sighed, dispelling my mana, and leaning on the staff, saying gratefully, “It’s over.”

Apparently, to Cassandra, the fight _wasn’t_ over, because she pointed her sword at me and snarled, “Drop your weapon! Now!”

I sighed again, but let the staff fall from my grip. “Cassandra, if I was going to attack you, I would’ve done so by now. I certainly would’ve done so before I attacked the shades- you’re a much tougher opponent.”

This response seemed to confuse her for a moment, before she sighed and put away her sword. “You’re right. I should remember that you agreed to come willingly. Even though you were obviously _spying_ , mage.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Not all mages were part of a circle, Cassandra, but all of us would be effected by the outcome here.”

Cassandra scowled. “You’re an apostate.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, if that’s what you want to call me. Shouldn’t we keep going?”

She scowled harder for a moment before sighing. “Indeed,” she said, then paused, before adding, “You may not _need_ a staff to cast, but I cannot protect you. You should take the staff with you.”

I was mildly surprised by her willingness to allow me a weapon, but I wasn’t going to look a gift Halla in the mouth. I grabbed the staff from where it had fallen, and moved toward Cassandra. When I caught up to her, she handed me a small pouch, “Take these potions as well. Maker knows what we are going to face.”


	3. Testing the Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idrilla tests her mark on a rift and meets her companions for the trip to the big one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a companion piece to this chapter, in the "Idrilla Sylvas" series "When First You Caught My Eye", which is Solas' POV of this chapter.

When I had attached the potion pouch to my belt, she began a more lengthy route around the destroyed bridge. Unfortunately, our new route wasn’t packed snow, so I kept sinking into the drifts. I’d say Cassandra had it worse than me in her heavy armor, except she’s taller than me and was only sinking to mid-calf instead of almost knee deep.

“Where are the rest of your soldiers?” I asked as we walked, looking worriedly toward the bridge where we’d seen five people before the explosion.

“If any of the soldiers that were stationed on the bridge made it, they’ll have gone to the foreword camp, with the rest of the soldiers who aren’t currently fighting.”

Our conversation was cut short by more demons. They were easily taken care of, but the conversation was dead. Cassandra led me along the frozen river until we came to a set of stairs leading up the bank.

About half-way up Cassandra said, “We’re getting close to the rift. You can hear the fighting.” She drew her sword and increased her pace.

Freaking warriors! Not everyone can just _run_ up stairs like that. Panting, I asked, “Who’s fighting?”

She didn’t even slow down as she answered, “You’ll see soon. We must help them.”

 _Really? I’ll see soon?_ _What does this crazy human have against answering questions? First hand experience isn’t always the best way to learn things!_ I silently fumed to myself as we jogged up the rest of the stairs At the top we could see the battle: past a two foot retaining wall drop-off there was a… pulsing, twisting, green… it almost looked like a crystal? I could _feel_ the fade energies coming from it, so I assumed this was the something smaller we would be testing my mark on. 

First, however, wed have to clear the area of demons. There were already people here fighting them I took in quickly as I jumped off the retaining wall to get close enough to cast. The three soldiers were working together well enough, the durgen’len only had one shade demon focused on him, but the other elven mage had two headed for him, so I focused my energies on the nearer of the two, and cast my chain lightning spell, hoping to stun most of the shades on the field.

The elven mage had frozen the further of the two and had turned to the closer when he noticed it was stunned. He used the blade on the end of his staff to dispatch the stunned shade before turning quickly back to the frozen one. When the frozen one shattered from a bolt, I quickly scanned the field, and finding no more demons, I relaxed for a second.

WRONG MOVE. I’d relaxed and the other mage on the field had dashed over to me, grabbed my hand, _dragged_ me to the fade rift, and held my hand up to it. The mark connected to the thing, and that frigging _hurt_. It felt like acid in my veins, from my hand running all the way to my heart. Before it could reach my heart I panicked, pulling my hand away from the rift and out of the mage’s grip. I knew this was the rift they wanted to test my mark on, and I knew I needed to interact with it to do that, but I was afraid if that pain hit my heart it would kill me.

As I pulled my hand away, however, the thing actually closed! I stared at that mark for a second, then turned to the mage, who had stepped back from her with his hands behind his back (the posture reminded me of the clan’s children when they’d touched something they shouldn’t have). “What did you do?” I asked.

“I did nothing,” He said calmly. “The credit is yours.”

Slightly incredulous that I’d done that all by myself, I asked, “ _I_ closed that thing? How?”

The corners of his mouth twitched, and he replied, “Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach’s wake – and it seems I was correct,” he added with a touch of pride. Deserved, I thought, if he’d figured out anything about this mess.

“Meaning it could close the Breach itself!” Cassandra interjected.

“Possibly,” the mage tells her before turning back to me. “It seems you hold the key to our salvation.”

Well that’s just…great. No pressure or anything.

“Good to know!” The durgen’len says from behind me, startling me for a second as I’d forgotten he was there. “Here I’d thought we’d be ass-deep in demons forever.”

I snorted quietly and said under my breath, “Whose ass? ‘Cause yours isn’t all that far off the ground…”

“Varric Tethras, rogue, storyteller, and, occasionally, unwelcome tagalong,” he added as he walked over, winking at Cassandra as he said the last. She scowled at him.

“Lovely to meet you, Varric,” I replied politely.

The mage huffed and said, “You may reconsider that stance in time.”

“Awww,” Varric said, obviously feigning his hurt. “I’m sure we’ll become good friends in the valley, Chuckles.”

“Absolutely not!” Cassandra cut in. “Your help is appreciated, Varric, but…”

“Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker?” Varric cut in. I couldn’t help but think that was a bad idea. “Your soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You _need_ me.”

Cassandra made a very disgusted noise, throwing her arms up in the air and turning away.

“My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions,” the mage said serenely from my side. “I am pleased to see you yet live.”

“He _means_ ,” Varric interjected, “‘I kept that mark from killing you while you slept.’”

I turned a startled gaze to the mage, Solas, to see him duck his head. When he looked back at me I said, “Thank you, for that. You seem to know quite a bit about all this…?”

Cassandra butted in with, “Like you, Solas is an apostate.” I gave her a confused look, because I was an apostate and I knew nothing of the situation. One had nothing to do with the other. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Solas giving her a rather exasperated look as well.

“Technically, Seeker, all mages are now ‘apostates’,” Solas told her calmly, before turning back to me. “My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade, far beyond the experience of any Circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I could with the Breach, for if it is not closed we are all doomed, regardless of origin.” He gave me a sad smile and ducked his head, adding, “And you should only thank me if we manage to close the Breach without killing you in the process.” Turning back to Cassandra he added, “You should know, the magic involved here is unlike any I have ever seen. Your prisoner is a mage, yet I find it difficult to imagine _any_ mage having such power.”

“Understood,” Cassandra said. “We must get to the forward camp quickly.” She looked around, then added, “This way, over the bank. The road ahead is blocked.”

We all started walking back toward the river when Varric said, “Well Bianca’s excited!”

 _Fuck._ I’d forgotten to ask the names of the other soldiers that were at the rift. I looked around at them but none of them looked particularly excited.

“Bianca?” I asked tentatively.

“”Yea!” Varric replied, caressing his crossbow. “Ain’t she beautiful? Bianca and I have been through a lot together.”

“You…named your crossbow Bianca?” That just seemed a little…cracked.

“Of course,” he replied easily. I’m sure I wasn’t the first person to give him a funny look over it. “Speaking of names, I didn’t catch yours…?”

“Oh, it’s Rilla. Idrilla Sylvas,” I told them easily as we climbed over the rubble to get to the narrow path around the blocked road.


	4. Survivors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rilla and Co. move forward, encountering more demons, and check for survivors amoungst the houses along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out, I really have been meaning to get them out more often until I get past the prologue, however I have been fighting a killer migraine that just won't quit. I'm having a slightly-less-painful day today, so here's a post!  
> Elvish is in italics, and anything other than the basics will be translated at the bottom.

I was concentrating on keeping my feet in all the rubble when Solas called out, “Demons ahead!”

“Glad you brought me now, Seeker?” Varric teased as he readied his crossbow.

There were four demons ahead of us, two wraiths and two shades. The shades were one the frozen river, but the wraiths were skulking on the opposite bank. Without waiting or warning, Cassandra let out a yell and barreled into the shades.

“Fenedhis!” I cursed under my breath, slipping forward along the path so I could get a good lock for a barrier.

Beside me Solas chuckled at my displeasure. As we dispatched the wraiths, he asked, “Not used to working with such… enthusiastic warriors, da’len?”

I huffed. “ _I_ am a planner. I like to have a base plan before I jump into battle. And I like to make sure that everyone has a barrier _before_ they jump into battle.”

Cassandra, too far away to hear my grumbling, ran her sword through the last of the demons. Falling into a defensive stance, she looked around, then said, “That appears to be all of the. We should move on.”

Walking toward her, out onto the ice, I looked around as well, noting two houses, one to my right and one directly across the river from me. Both were on fire, and partially destroyed. I worried my lip, then asked tentatively, “Shouldn’t we check the houses before we move on? In case anyone is trapped inside?”

Cassandra scoffed. “This area was evacuated the first day. Anyone who wasn’t already dead was moved to Haven.”

I fidgeted for a moment before asking, “Can we check anyways? Because sometimes people are stupid and come back for things when they shouldn’t and then get stuck. I’ve… I’ve seen it before.”

“We need to get to the forward camp!” Cassandra growled at me. “The longer we take the more lives may be lost!”

“Soldiers!” I exclaimed. “People who signed up for battle. They knew the risks. But these people… the common folk… they didn’t ask for this and they have no chance without help. Please. It’ll only take a minute.”

Cassandra ground her teeth, but before she could reply Varric butted in with, “Come on Seeker, we’ll check this house,” he said with a gesture to the house directly across the river from us, right next to the path forward. “Chuckles and Rilla can check the other one, and then we can move on.”

“No,” Cassandra huffed. “No splitting up.” She gestured irritably at the further house. “Just check quickly and let us be done.”

I smiled at her, and I turned at quickly walked toward the house. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate it we hadn’t checked.”

Cassandra let out a disgusted grunt from behind me and I didn’t need to turn around to know that she was scowling at me.

Walking beside me, Solas asked, “You’ve seen people go back for things during a disaster before?”

I glanced at him and offered a sad half-smile. “Yea.” I sighed, opening the door to the house and glancing around the interior. “If we live through this, I’ll tell you about it?” I offered, then raised my voice. “ **Anybody in here**?” I yelled. “We’re people, not demons, and we’ll get you to safety.”

We waited a beat, but there was no answer, no movement, no sounds, so I turned to leave. The sour expression on Cassandra’s face was epic.

“I _told_ you that we evacuated,” she grumbled.

“There, there, Seeker,” Varric said cheerfully, leading the way to the second house. “We’ll be done and back on mission soon.”

I smiled at him, though he couldn’t see it, as he was leading the way with the seeker to the second house. While both houses were in poor condition, this house was very much on fire. I didn’t really think anyone would be in there, but I _had_ to check.

As Varric opened the door I slipped past him into the building. Again, calling out, I said, “ **Anybody in here**? We’re people…”

I started to reassure anyone in the building that they could come out when I was nearly bowled over by a waist height child. It was a good thing that Solas had stayed close, because if he hadn’t been behind me I would have fallen right over.

The child that was now clinging to me sobbed and a mabari behind them growled.

I raised one hand at the dog and calmly said, “Peace, guardian. We’re not going to hurt your charge.” As soon as the growling stopped, I knelt and wrapped my arms around the poor da’len. Holding them tight I said, “Hush, now, da’len. I know it was scary but you’re safe now.” Making soothing noises, I rocked them until they stopped sobbing.

I could almost hear Cassandra’s impatient huffing, but thankfully she kept it, mostly, to herself. I think she was feeling a little chagrined that I had been right about checking for people, which gave me just enough leeway to properly care for the poor da’len.

It took them a good minute to calm down, and when they did I pulled back. They made a panicked noise, and held on, so I didn’t pull back far, just enough to see their face. Varric, bless his heart, held a handkerchief out to me, and I took it, wiping off their face. “There now, do you feel a little bit better?” I asked as I rid them of the tears and snot. They nodded. “What’s your name _dharlin_? Where’s your mamae and babae?”

The little one looked at their toes. “I’m Bree. Breanna. My mama is Alice and my papa is William. Mama is in the town. I don’t know where papa is. Mama said he was gone but she didn’t say _where_ he was gone to.” She looked at her toes. “I was checking in case he comed back, but he didn’t. Lucy was here though. I like Lucy,” she told me conspiratorially.

I smiled. “Lucy is your mabari?”

She gave a wet giggle. “No, silly, I’m a little girl. I don’t get to have a mabari. Lucy is George’s. He has lots of mabaris. He has puppies lots of times. Lucy has puppies lots. Not right now. But lots.”

“There was a mabari breeder in Haven?” Varric asked in astonishment. “I didn’t think they’d like to be somewhere so…middle of nowhere.”

“I believe she speaks of George de Cyrill,” Cassandra answered. “He moved here to breed his mabari after receiving less welcome in Orlais then he anticipated. He would offer Chantry officials and Templars first chance to bond with a new litter.”

I reached out to the mabari that was behind Bree. “Hey there, Lucy,” I said sweetly, “Did you come here to protect your girl?” A woof of agreement as she came forward to sniff my fingers. “Yes, you’re a very good girl, aren’t you? What a good protector you are!” I cooed to her.

Varric whistled. “He’s not going to be happy one of his breeders bonded with a little girl.”

Cassandra huffed. “He can deal with that when we have all _survived_ this crisis. Come we must move forward,” she commanded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dharlin - pup/puppy  
> da'len - child  
> mamae - mom  
> babae - dad  
> I am still fighting that migraine so I can't say when I'll have another post to you, however I'm aiming for at least once a week, no matter what.


	5. To the Forward Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rilla and Co. make it to the forward camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just as a side note, I don't have a beta, if anyone is feeling magnanimous.  
> Also I briefly mentioned in my previous notes that "dharlin" is elven for kitten, however I meant puppy. It is corrected now.

The forward camp was up another long flight of stairs, and after making sure Bree had a coat on, I grabbed her little hand and gestured for the others to lead the way. Cassandra grunted, Varric smiled, and Solas gave me a look I didn’t quite know how to interpret.

“Most Dalish I have met would have little concern for a _shemlen_ child,” he said ponderously as we climbed.

My stomach sank. I suppose it was too much to ask that no one would notice my Vallaslin. It was carefully formulated to be the color of my skin, but skin color changes, and the marks were raised. My clan could be in danger if anyone connected me to them. “What do you know of the Dalish?” I asked, then winced. That came out much harsher than I intended it to.

“I have wandered many roads in my time, and crossed paths with your people on more than one occasion,” he replied tightly.

“The Dalish represent _all_ elven people, Solas,” I told him gently.

He snorted at that. “The Dalish I met felt… differently on the subject.”

I sigh. “It is true that some clans are very…insular. That they blame the elves in the alienage for not being Dalish. But some clans still remember what they stand for,” I said firmly. “I am friendly with a few such clans.”

Solas raised his eyebrows. “Really?” he asked skeptically, then looking ahead drew his weapon. “I would enjoy discussing this further, however it seems we have more demons to fight.”

Turning to the Mabari, I quickly command, “Lucy, stay here and protect your girl!” before letting go of the girls hand and taking a couple steps in front of her. Drawing my staff, I quickly cast barriers on Bree, Lucy, and myself. It turned out to be completely unnecessary, as nothing got past Cassandra, even, let alone Varric, Solas, or myself.

When the battle was over Cassandra frowned, before saying, “I hope Leliana made it through all this.”

Surprisingly, since Varric and Cassandra seemed to have a rather contentious relationship, it was Varric who reassured her, “She’s resourceful Seeker.”

As the rest of us moved forward to where Cassandra was cleaning and sheathing her blade, Solas added, “We will see for ourselves at the forward camp. We are almost there.”

It wasn’t much further up the stairway when I spotted a bunch of corpses. “Bree, _dharlin_ , close your eyes. Just for a minute,” I told her, hoping to spare the girl the sight of a bunch of dead bodies. I’m sure she’d seen some already, but no need to add to it, I thought.

“Okay,” Bree said trustingly. It took me aback a bit, because she hardly knew me, but I was grateful.

Varric, bless him again, started talking to distract Bree from wanting to peek. His topic left much to be desired. “So… _are_ you innocent?” He asked.

“Yes,” I told him shortly. I didn’t want Bree to stop trusting me, and thinking I was responsible for this mess would certainly do it.

Cassandra snorted harshly. “You don’t remember what happened!” she accused.

I sighed. “No, I do not, however I know myself well enough to know that I would _never_ do something like this, intentionally or otherwise.”

Solas looked at me with a glimmer of…appreciation? in his eyes. “Few can say they know themselves well enough to know such a thing with surety.”

I nodded, “This is true. Bree, _dharlin_ , you can open your eyes again,” I inserted, having passed the bodies. “It is my belief that in order to be your best you must first know yourself. How can you improve if you don’t know where the starting point is?” I added.

The sounds of fighting reach us again. Cassandra, in the lead, shouts, “Another rift!”

“We must seal it, quickly!” Solas told me. “Go! I will watch the girl, with her guardian.”

Letting go of Bree’s hand, I quickly told her, “You stay here with Lucy and Solas, okay?” At her nod of acceptance, I dashed into the fray.

As a mage I much preferred to fight at range, however I’ve spent enough time fighting in tight quarters in Tevinter that I’m not stuck if I have to get close, which is lucky because I had to get closer than I’d really like in order to connect to the rift.

“They just keep coming!” One of the soldiers yelled desperately.

I made a connection with the rift, just as the last of the demons fell to a bolt from Varric. Just as before, connecting with the rift was agony. As the acid-like feeling of the magic started creeping toward my heart I pulled my hand away, and just as before the rift closed.

There was a moment of stunned silence before everyone slumped in relief.

“The rift is gone!” Cassandra exclaimed, then turning to the soldiers manning the gate to what I assumed was the forward camp, yelled “Open the gates!”

“Right away, Lady Cassandra!” They yelled back.

Solas walked up to me, Bree’s hand safely held in his own. I smile at him with as much energy as I had, and mouth ‘ _Thank you_ ’. He really didn’t seem the type to engage with children, more aloof in nature, but he had here, and it impressed me.

He slightly smiled and nodded at me, but chose not to address it. “We are clear for the moment. Well done,” he told me.

Letting go of Solas’ hand, Bree hugged me. “You made the bad thing go away!”

Chuckling Varric said, “Whatever that thing on your hand is, it’s useful.”

Placing a hand on Bree’s head I smiled tiredly. “Yes, da’len, it seems I can close the rifts in the sky.”

She looked up at me with stars in her eyes. “You must be a hero! Like the Queen!”

I blanched. “Oh, no, I don’t think I’m quite so…”

“Nonsense!” Varric interrupted. “Trust me, I know hero’s and you are one.”

As whatever blockade had been keeping the gates closed was cleared Cassandra turned back to us. “ _That_ is highly debatable,” she said disdainfully. “Now come, Leliana awaits.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elvish:  
> "dharlin" - puppy


	6. The Forward Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idrilla and co. make it to the forward camp, meet an annoying chancellor, and decide how to continue onward to the Breach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry this took me so long to get out! I have 4 medical conditions that are effected by stress, and I've been super stressed, so I've been super sick :(  
> This is unedited because I feel so bad about it being so late, so there might be a few typos.

The other side of the gate was a large bridge with the forward camp spread along its length. Cassandra leads us to a supply crate, passing out health potions to the rest of us. She hesitated a moment, giving Solas and me a pointed glare, before she handed us each a single vial of lyrium.

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the value of lyrium in these times,” She scowled at us. “Only use that if you must. The lyrium we have should be preserved for the healers.”

I just shook my head. “I’ve gone this far in my life without lyrium, Seeker, I’m sure I won’t need it now.”

I try to hand it back to her, but she pushes it back to me. “Keep it, just in case. You are the only one who can seal the rifts, we cannot risk you. If you need to use it, use it. Now,” she said turning, “we need to find someone to make sure the child makes it back to Haven.”

Spotting a chantry sister, she marches over to her. “Sister.” She barks, like she’s talking to a recruit.

The sister startles, but turns and bows to Cassandra. “How can I help you, Seeker Pentaghast?”

Cassandra motions to Bree. “This child was wandering around looking for her father. Her mother is back in Haven and is most certainly worried. When you take the next group of wounded back to Haven, take her and her Mabari as well.”

“Yes, of course,” the sister says, her posture softening from the rigid stress that Cassandra’s tone had caused. Looking to Bree, who was hiding behind me just peeking out, she said, “Come, honey, we’ll find you someplace warm to sit until it’s time to go back to Haven.”

Bree looked questioningly up at me, and I gave her an encouraging smile. “Okay,” she told the sister, coming our from behind me. She took a couple steps toward her before she turned around and gave me a flying hug. “Thank you very much for finding me, and Lucy, and for making the bad thing go away.”

I brushed a few stray hairs off her forehead. “You are very welcome, _dharlin_.”

She squeezed me again, then turned to the sister and they started walking toward a fire with a few exhausted looking soldiers around it.

Cassandra huffed impatiently. “Now, if we could finally move on,” she said gesturing to where Leliana was arguing with a man in chantry regalia. There really wasn’t a need to be such a bitch, so when she turned to stomp toward them I made a face at her back.

As we walk towards them we hear Leliana say sharply, “We mush prepare the soldiers!”

“We will do no such thing,” the man said pompously. Cassandra’s pace toward them slows, and I get the impression she doesn’t like this man, whoever he may be.

“The prisoner must get to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. It is our only chance!” Leliana cries.

“You have already caused enough trouble without resorting to this exercise in futility,” the man replied snottily.

Accusing the Left Hand of causing trouble? Sounds like a death wish to me. And I was right, too, because Leliana’s tone when she replied could have re-frozen the river. 

“ _I_ have caused trouble?”

Apparently missing the danger he was in, the man glared at her. “ _You_ , Cassandra, Most Holy – haven’t you all done enough already?”

“You are not in command here!” Leliana growls. I was a bit surprised that she didn’t kill him for the insult to their ‘Most Holy’ alone, though her tone and posture would suggest that she wanted to.

“Enough!” the man shouts. “I will not have it!” Even at our snails pace we have reached them now, and the man pulls himself as tall as he will go. “Ah, here them come,” he sneers at us.

“You made it,” Leliana interjects, and I can hear the relief in her tone. “Chancellor Roderick, this is –”

“I know who she is!” The chancellor interrupts, and I wince. Interrupting Leliana seems like a terrible idea to me. “As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry,” he blusters, “I hereby order you to take this _criminal_ to Val Royeaux to face execution.”

I can’t help but notice that Leliana introduced him as a chancellor, and he introduced himself as a _grand_ chancellor. Perhaps an inflated sense of importance?

Cassandra is having none of his bluster. “Order me? You are a glorified clerk! A bureaucrat!”

“And you are a thug,” he replies frostily, and I wince again. This idiot is doing a really good job of insulting the two most dangerous women on this bridge. “but a thug who supposedly serves the chantry!”

I couldn’t see Cassandra’s face as I was still a bit behind her, but her body language told me she wanted to punch him in the face. I couldn’t blame her. I kinda wanted to punch him in the face, too.

Leliana must’ve seen the same thing in Cassandra’s face, because she stepped forward and slightly between the two of them, and said “We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor, as you well know.”

“Justinia is dead!” the man spits. “We must elect her replacement, and obey _her_ orders on the matter.” He says this like it’s some sort of trump card.

I’d had enough of this prick. Stepping forward, so I was at Cassandra’s shoulder, I interjected, “Isn’t closing the Breach the more pressing issue here?”

“ _You_ brought this upon us in the first place!” Roderick replies quickly, then turns to Cassandra. “Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless.”

“We can stop this before it’s too late,” Cassandra refutes passionately.

All the fire seems to seep out of the man, and he defeatedly said, “How? You won’t survive long enough to reach to temple, even with all your soldiers.”

“We must reach the temple,” Cassandra said, then pointed to the map. “It’s the quickest route.”

“But not the safest,” Leliana interjects. “Our forces can charge as a distraction, while we go through the mountains,” she said as she traced another path on the map.

“Listen to me!” Roderick said, having regained some of his previous anger. “Abandon this now, before more lives are lost!”

“I’m sorry, is it common for Chantry chancellors to have a military background?” I ask sweetly, knowing that it wasn’t.

He spluttered, while Varric tried (and failed) to hide a chuckle behind me.

Hiding a smile, Leliana answered me, “No, it is not.”

“Oh.” I pretended to be confused and frowned. “Then I’m afraid I don’t understand why Chancellor Roderick is a part of a military strategy planning meeting…”

Roderick pulled himself up as tall as he would go, reminding me of a puffed up cat. “Be _silent_ prisoner!”

“The left and right hands of the Divine have more military experience in one pinky finger than you have in your entire body. Why don’t you leave the planning to them, yes?” I answer, dropping my innocent act.

I could tell that if there wasn’t a table in between us that he would’ve slapped me.

“Indeed,” Cassandra said with a glower at the Chancellor.

“On your head be the consequences!” the Chancellor spat at her before storming off toward the chantry sisters.

Just as he left the table the Breach, and therefore the damn mark, expanded. Biting back the curse that wanted to come out, I clutched my hand to my chest. The actions drew everyone’s attention back to me.

“How do you think we should proceed?” Cassandra asked me.

I blinked stupidly at her for a second, then asked incredulously, “You’re asking _me_?”

“You have the mark,” Solas said calmly from next to me.

“And you’re the one we must keep alive,” Cassandra continued. “Since Leliana and I cannot agree on our own…”

I heaved a sigh, then looked down at the map. After a moment, I said, “I think we should use the mountain path. Unless we meet extreme resistance, it should be faster, and I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last with this mark.”

Cassandra frowned, but nodded. “Leliana bring everyone left in the valley. Everyone.”


End file.
